DJ is charged in fatal shooting at Somerset County party

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerAlex Ortega, who is charged with murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses for opening fire during a party in Franklin Township, make his first apperance before Superior Court Judge Paul Armstron.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (Somerset County) — The Plainfield man who is accused of fatally shooting a Franklin High School senior and wounding another 18-year-old during a weekend party in Somerset County made his first appearance in court today.

Alex Ortega, 18, of Liberty Street, is accused of firing the shot that struck Ashani Wilks, 18, of Philips Road, in the head, killing him, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. He is also charged with shooting an 18-year old identified as J.R. in court papers, in the torso. J.R. is now listed in stable condition at an area hospital, said Capt. Jack Bennett, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Dressed in khaki prison garb and standing with his hands cuffed behind his back, Ortega appeared before Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong in Somerville. Ortega is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. He is being held in lieu of $400,000 cash bail.

While he has applied for representation from the Office of the Public Defender, Ortega told Armstrong that he plans to retain a private lawyer.

The shooting occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on Irvington Avenue, where teenagers from Plainfield and the Somerset section of Franklin had gathered, acting Somerset County Prosecutor A. Peter DeMarco Jr. has said. At some point during the party, a fight erupted between the two groups and continued to the outside of the residence where several shots were fired.

Ortega was a DJ at the party.

In a statement to police, Ortega admitted that he fired his .25-caliber handgun several times and knew that one of those shots had struck an individual in his torso and another round “likely struck the other victim,” according to the affidavit Franklin police Detective Greg Price filed in Superior Court.

During a weekend interview, Wilks’ family and fiancée said he was trying to break up a fight between the groups when he was shot at the party that was for a girl turning 15.